After umpteen attempts to restart my food blog, I have come to the realization that I simply lack self discipline (now if only I could get a dollar for each of my friends who are rolling their eyes at what they have known all this while).

Not to mention I am slightly disheartened by the fact that I am not a good photographer. Heck, my Sony cybershot not only does not (outrageous!) have a food function (no doubt created for us Asians who love to take photos of not just everything we eat, but of ALL food served at the table), of late it has caught a cold, with the lens seemingly shuddering. Hence my companions not only have to contend with the embarrassment of the photo-taking (with their usual apologetic sighs to other patrons and the wait staff) but also with the nagging suspicion that they are friends with a somewhat deranged person as she then shakes her camera into submission (I'm not sure what is going on there, but it works after a few shakes).

Some weeks ago, I found myself in my hotel room at Four Rosmead (nice boutique hotel, for those of you who might be searching out a place to stay in Cape Town) at 8:30 pm looking at the frightful weather outside and being still full from lunch (having finished it at 5 pm) feeling somewhat inclined to restart this blog.

My intentions were admirable if I may say so, because I did manage to get to around five or six paragraphs before I fell asleep. By the time I woke up the next morning I found myself rushing to catch the ferry to Robben Island for what was a thoroughly interesting tour (if somewhat hampered by the ridiculous rain - getting wet to dry off only to be drenched again in the rain isn't really my idea of fun).

And hence it was that the update was not published then. Well, nonetheless it being a new year, it's time for a new beginning - so with a little editing I am determined to inflict my latest most impressive restaurant experience on anyone who cares to read this (or was googling for a review on La Colombe and found this).

It was my last day in the Winelands and at Cloof. I managed to have a quick stroll by the vines, before packing up and then hopping over with S and C to where they hold wine tastings to say bye to W. W was busy for a bit so we even got to taste some wines while waiting for him.

After finishing my three small tasting portions on a very empty stomach (shall be ordering some of that lovely Cab Cult and Lynchpin as soon as I remember to get that contact off S), saying bye to W's adorable dogs and thanking W for everything, we then made our way (after calling the restaurant to push back our booking :p) to the Constantia Winelands.

The restaurant is located in the Uitsig Estate and when we arrived we were immediately shown to our table on the patio by our server. The patio looks out into a pretty courtyard with a fountain and boy was I grateful for the outdoor heaters as it was pretty windy. Further away was a view over the vines themselves.

Our server then presented us with the blackboard menu and very confidently and knowledgeably explained our choices - certainly didn't take us long to decide given how hungry we were though notably S commented how there was probably nothing on the menu he wouldn't order so it was a tough choice and we already started getting a strong hunch that we would try and come back.

Given S had to drive and C was feeling a little under the weather, we decided to just have a carafe of white and red each and our server made some suggestions which we thought were pretty good. If I were a genuine food blogger I would have the names of the wines at my fingertips but sadly not only am I not, my comments on wine are much on "yummy", "no, don't like this", "too strong", "can I have more please?" so simply won't do for anyone who takes wine seriously.

For our amuse bouche, we were presented with a caremlised onion tart topped with goat's cheese, Thai style prawn veloute with crunchy water chestnuts and beef carpaccio-wrapped shitake - to me this sounded like too much "fusion" action going on but I was surprised how well this all came together. The water chestnuts in particular were a really nice touch, though I did then have a mental image of the chef at the local Chinese supermarket picking out water chestnuts.

Anyway, this whetted our appetites perfectly. I opted for the scallops and pork belly for my starter, which came pan seared perfecty with a salsa of tomato and beans and crispy crackling along with cubes of glazed pork belly on which a bean stalk was artfully arranged - along with the celeriac puree blobs it all looked pretty artistic. The flavours were lovely, the only thing I couldn't shake was what the spice was that was used for the pork belly, something that reminded me of Chinese cooking! Would be interested to find out if anyone knows? :)

S had the trout 'sous vide' while C had the Alaskan king crab both which appeared to impress them so much so that for a few minutes we just ate without talking (and for those of you who do not know me, that is hard, I assure you).

For our palate cleansers, S and I opted for the granny smith & calvados while C opted for the pineapple & malibu, both of which were so refreshing I'm just wishing I had some in my freezer now so I could get it now! (Thinking about it now, maybe I should start making sorbets. I know it's winter, but hmm.)

But I digest. Coming on to the mains... I have never really ever needed anyone to push me to order suckling pig. There's just something about suckling pig (whether at the Kowloon City place I love, around Lu Gu Lake near Lijiang, in southern Spain, or anywhere really) that just inspires devotion (it's like bacon).

So suckling pig it was for me (and C too), and the variety reminded me of Heston's Fairytale Feast where he serves that hog's head, and it was the cheek, the tongue, the snout etc. This was pork shoulder ballotine which was slow cooked and super tender like dong po rou (东坡肉), pork loin sous vide with crackling, red cabbage and caramelised onions hiding under the pork loin. baby potato dauphinoise and honey jus. The result was an interesting comparison of cuts and tastes and textures (without being too experimental) that left me a very contented little piggy. S decided to have the veal and langoustine which he did say was very good and which I recall trying a little of but unfortunately was shadowed by my memory of that pig.

It had started raining while we were eating and it was certainly getting more chilly - we therefore decided to adjourn inside for our desserts, coffee and tea. By this time, we were feeling pretty full but at a restaurant this good, we certainly weren't going to give up dessert, not especially since it was some chocolate torte which La Colombe's pastry chef had just won a Hennessy competition for! So for once the three of us were in agreement and all ordered the same dessert. And what a dessert it was! Served with meringue tuiles, caramel, cherries and to me, what really won the day - cognac marshmallows (I think they must just dip them quickly in cognac before toasting them ever so slightly). Made me feel like a little kid at the candy store... something to look forward to like a birthday treat!

So it was by the end of dessert and tea, that we had reached a unanimous decision, that this was certainly one of the best meals of this little getaway. This, and Le Quartier Francais, but that was a tasting menu that we felt was maybe a once-a-year affair rather than this, which we could gladly do monthly.

The meal came to around R620 per person (including two glasses of wine each but not including service), which for this standard of food and level of service is just amazing. The estate itself looks lovely and the perfect weekend getaway, if only an hour away from Cape Town (admittedly, just a little further from HK).

So if you are headed that way.. I urge you to go try La Colombe, for me, this was one of the best meals of 2011!_______________________________________________________La ColombeConstantia Uitsig, Spaanschemat River Road, Constantia, Cape TownT: + 27 (0) 21 794 2390 W: http://www.constantia-uitsig.com/pages/directions.php_______________________________________________________PS Am still looking for the right cable to upload my photos (sigh) so apologies for the lack of photos a this moment!

Rainy sunday evening when we couldn't get a table anywhere in Elements without waiting so S suggested a bit of suckling pig so I gave our favourite piggy hangout a ring and yes, they had a table so into a cab we piled in and along the way, Y (who just arrived two weeks ago) and H (his friend who arrived yesterday) exclaimed: "Woah, is this the HIGHWAY? Where are we going??" Bless. 15 minutes and $50 later we arrived at our destination. Y and H had a quick glance in at the pigs being roasted before we went up. Hadn't been there for a few months and for the first time ever the place had a few tables empty! Eeps. Couldn't help but think to myself, hope the food is still good!

So sat down, and ordered the usual - half a suckling pig, the house special fried rice （城寨风味炒饭）, claypot kale （啫啫芥兰煲）, xo sauce black pork and asparagus（XO酱黑猪肉炒露笋）, "big spender" tofu (阔佬豆腐）(coincidentally randomly started talking about the big spender kidnapper cheung tze-keung... only realised now!) and spicy sauce clams （豉汁炒蚬）and crossed my fingers, hoping for the best. Oh and two nice big bottles of tsing tao which came with the usual blue and white bowls for drinking.

Thankfully the place didn't let me down. Clams came first and were fresh though I would have liked them slightly spicier (I'm a true chilli-loving Singaporean after all). Next up was the black pork and asparagus - pork was tender and I love XO sauce though asparagus might be even better if it was younger... (hmmm....) And then everything else pretty much came at the same time. The fried rice, which was essentially seafood fried rice with a topping of flying fish roe was probably the least impressive - but still not bad. And with the "big spender" tofu - silky tofu with a sauce of scallops and mushrooms - it was just the thing I needed to fill me up on a rainy day. As usual I enjoyed the claypot kale with shrimp sauce - lots of places do it, but the one here is great, not too salty and the flavours really do get into the kale...

And of course, the star dish, the suckling pig was oh so crispy... yummmmmmm... though I can see how the head might be a little disturbing - my brain just shuts out bad thoughts of stuff like that though. But hey, if you can deal with a fish head, you can deal with a roast pig head.

The 3 boys seemed happy enough... though their only question was how they were going to come back again without me and order without any Chinese... the place didn't seem to have an English name! Though now that I look on openrice - it's called "Wall City Flavour" think that's a literal translation - there wasn't actually an English name at the restaurant... hahaha...

Anyway, the place was still a crowd pleaser... never mind that it is in the middle of nowhere for most people who live on HK island (it's near the old Kai Tak Airport, for those of you young uns who still remember it). It is admittedly a little bit of a trek (everything is relative and the main thing here is the lack of a MTR station) but I still think it's great once in a while - especially if you come here after an afternoon in Prince Edward at the flower market/bird market, cos then it's only a 5-10 min cab ride away. So looks like the emptiness was probably really just cos of the rain..Definitely coming back again...

Food, beer and service around HK$700 for four.Visa/Mastercard accepted. Reservations recommended.

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城寨风味 "Wall City Flavour"

九龙城南角道

6-6A Nam Kok Road 6-6A, Kowloon City

T +852 2718 0801

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How to get there:

There's a whole host of options with the mini-buses but I'm hopeless, my usual route is to get the train to Prince Edward and then get a cab outside Mongkok Police Station - think it's about HK$25 away then. Or I try and convince a friend who drives (and has GPS if they don't know Kowloon well) to come :) Valet parking is available...

Aside: the whole area is fantastic - there's a great beef place and also a load of Thai restaurants... will have to write about that next time...

Just thinking about all the photos I have on my iPhone of food eaten and how I used to write this blog (while sitting at work at midnight waiting for someone to get back to me!). Good grief. Where has the last 3 years gone?! This simply will not do. DRASTIC action must be taken. And so it begins...

As I live and work in the City, finding a good place for dinner is a constant crusade. There are a billion eateries, unfortunately mostly only open for lunch and usually never open on weekends. So in another of my more idle moments, I looked around Time Out London for some inspiration.

Sauterelle was what I came up with, close enough to work AND home and to the friend I was about to meet up with (he works around Liverpool St). Better yet, they had a 3-course set menu for £19.95 that looked promising.

The restaurant is housed in the very impressive Royal Exchange which somehow reminds me of the QVB in Sydney (probably because it's a period building converted into a mall with posh shops), on the first floor by the right nearest corner as you go in from the main entrance. The restaurant also has a bar, which was really busy compared to the restaurant at around 8 pm. The restaurant was only half full, and being a Friday night, I just put it down to people wanting to get as far away from work for dinner to celebrate the weekend.

We asked to be shown the set menus, which in typical set menu fashion had some nice things and some things I didn't quite fancy as much. (Objectively though, there was a decent choice - see menu below)

Thankfully, my companion Y like some bits I didn't so we effectively ordered one set, and then ordered a la carte and shared. Y had the Rillette in the set, while I had the scallops (£12.50), both were competent and we had a quick wikipedia moment as we found out what rillette was (considering Y is Belgian and French is his first language and he didn't know, I didn't feel all that ashamed wiki-ing it) (fyi, it's very much similar to pate but the technique is different) - a good start when food provides entertainment (admittedly it wasn't trying to).

I had the sea bass, which was probably my favourite thing, I really do love fish with crispy skins! Although nowhere near as sublime as what I had in Can Fabes (see earlier post), it was still fresh and I mopped up all of it. Y had the Roast haunch of Yattendon venison, confit savoy cabbage, swede puree, sauce Grand Veneur (£17) and he seemed happy with his meat. We also shared some purple sprouting broccoli (all the rage in Spring London - I've had this four times already)

Portions are decent so we were pretty full at the end of it, and decided to just have the pear in the set to finish off. This was comforting though a bit lukewarm and quite sweet so I'm glad we shared - too rich for me, though I think Y might disagree and would happily have had this to himself.

We also had half a bottle of white wine and the bill came up to around £90 for two. All in all an enjoyable meal, not too poncy and service was actually friendly and attentive. Was thinking this would be a good place to bring a date to impress ;) especially if you're looking to do so around the City! Set menu is really good value for a place with such setting and for the area, but a la carte might be more prohibitive for regular dining (don't think they change the set menu that often). Even then, it's competitively priced when you compare it to the likes of the Pasternoster Chop House (which has hearty fresh food in a great ambience (more casual and suited for a big bunch of friends) but really quite pricey!).

Honestly thought we were on an excursion to a cute village somewhere to eat some rustic hearty (implication: cheap(er)) grub... the result of having not done my homework on the restaurant before. So yes, I looked at the website to figure out how to get there, but no I didn't read the bit about it being a 3 Michelin-starred restaurant...

So there we were in Saint Celoni, some 50 mins by train from Barcelona walking in a small little town before we found the restaurant in a cute little house. We were then ushered into our own private dining room (probably due to the beneficence of having our reservation made by a chef) - with gorgeous wooden beams - truly rustic. Our (Italian) waiter was fantastic, patiently explaining the Spanish menu to us, and his enthusiasm at explaining the bread was just marvellous. No snobs here - plus points!!

Thank goodness my travel companions CN, NH and RP were really accommodating and didn't even raise an eyebrow (or if they did, they were very restrained or I was too shocked myself to notice their reactions) when we finally sat down and opened the menus. Frankly I was gobsmacked. Just wasn't expecting starters to cost a minimum of €46! (damn the strong euro as well) And with my poor spanish, I first saw the tasting menu and the figure on the page was €250!!! (Turns out that was for the chef's table - tasting menu is actually an almost reasonable €140+) (it's all relative *shrug*)

Having only just had the tasting menu at ABAC the night before, most of our group of 6 were feeling too stuffed to have the tasting menu again. So we opted to have starters and mains, and decide if we could stomach dessert later.

Disclaimer: the names of the dishes below have been translated with my paltry Spanish and may not be entirely accurate, usually having omissions where I can't understand :P

We all opted for various different things, white asparagus with almond milk, onion cream and citrus peel; a two-part starter with the jelly and cold cream (gazpacho like), ham and mint in the picture with a second part being peas, poached egg, breadcrumbs and garlic; foie gras with shallots and salsa oil, langoustines with orange and tender (habitas); prawn ravioli with cep oil...

Everyone loved their starters but having nibbled (in true Asian fashion) a bit of everything round the table, I thought the prawn ravioli and the first part of the two part starter of jelly and cream were what really stood out. The prawn ravioli had a translucent lustre not dissimilar to soon kueh (but of course much finer) and was slippery with the texture being somewhat like a very fine dumpling (xia jiao or har kow). With the cep oil it was not too salty or rich, but tasted really fresh. Sublime.

As to the jelly with cold cream, ham and mint, it was a bit like a gazpacho since it was cold and creamy and had the freshness with the mint. We tried the bits to the dish separately and were unimpressed, but not (that) surprisingly when we mixed everything up, it was goooood. The salmon roe made the dish reminiscent in taste with Tetsuya's salmon sashimi and tobiko rice and the hot weather outside made this instantly refreshing.

For mains we had again tried different things, with the fish of the market, from Blanes market, grilled with a vegetable cocotte being my favourite. My dad loves ordering fish (our Cantonese blood) wherever we go but as much as I LOVE my steamed pomfret, sea bass etc, I usually find fish in European restaurants competent but lacking any wow factor. Here at Can Fabes though, the fish was excellent. The fish skin was nice and crispy, and the grilling with only a light sauce really flaunted the freshness of the fish.

Somehow the other fish dish, rape with snails and polenta paled by comparison - as there were more flavours there and might have been a bit too rich for me. Again relativity was at work, the other dishes were all well executed and yummy in their own way, but I tend to be more impressed when the flavours are milder and more subtle - I also get suspicious of the freshness of my food when it is drowned in rich sauce.

Portions were more than adequate (none of the namby pamby portions one associates with fine dining) and at the end of two courses we were all too full for dessert. But of course it's nice to end with a sweet note and the petit fours ended the meal perfectly. An assortment of tuiles (so thin and fine I could eat them all day and not feel like I've ingested a single calorie), madeleines (which joone normally professes to dislike but thought was really good after I nagged her repeatedly to try - I also do not care for madeleines normally: too sweet), chocolate truffles, marshmallows tasting of fennel, little fruit tarts etc. made us all happy bunnies.

Of, lest I forget, we also had the house cava (so good I brought one home, notwithstanding the risk of explosion after check in on the plane) and the house white (decent, but more forgettable). Joone and I also had a little tasting of their house red (approx €55) as joone was considering buying back, but I guess I didn't think it brilliant enough to pay for.

So what was the damage? Two courses each (with the usual amuses bouche and petit fours), with cava and plenty of white wine round the table came to €160 per person. The meal took about 3.5 hours and was thoroughly enjoyable (brilliant company plus brilliant food = always a winner!) Verdict? Can Fabes is truly fabulous cooking, and worth every euro (once in a long while)... I think it's made its way into my top 5 fine dining restaurants! (How on earth is this ranked below Hakkasan (which I love but simply don't think is as Faaabulous)?!)

Quick go, before someone discovers how amazing it is again and elevates the ranking (and price)!

I've noticed how much I've been eating out, purely from my dwindling bank balance rather than my waist size (I elect never to own a weighing scale, except an electronic one for baking, and so remain blissfully unaware of the harsh realities of what daily three course european dinners can do to you).

I blame Tesco. I really do. Why can't they (or ANYONE) open a DECENT store near me, instead of that travesty of a Tesco Metro that they have (admittedly) two minutes from my flat? It doesn't even have mushrooms (not when I need them anyway)! Thus due to lack of inspiring ingredients, I find myself unwilling to cook anything besides microwave food, which though an extremely alluring option at work after weeks of the only slightly varying canteen menu, simply can't compete with the likes of all these Time Out Critic's Choices restaurants. Of course there's also the simpler explanation of just not having time to cook, particularly when out on the way to the theatre after work (but I needed some excuse to rant about my local Tesco).

And so it was, last Tuesday night, that prior to a wonderful night at Comedy Camp at the the Arts Theatre Club on Frith Street I found myself queuing for a table at Barrafina at 6 pm. My companion NH was convinced that no one could possibly want to eat that early and that we would get a table, so when we did eventually get there after a leisurely wander from Fleet Street, there were about 12 people in front of us. At 6 pm. This led to our usual conversation topic of how we can't understand (we know of course but understanding is something altogether) where all these people are from? Don't they have to work? Who's supporting this economy?! All the time blatantly ignoring the fact that we've scooted off work early (it's all relative) to be ready to eat at 6.

Anyway, I digress. NH was genuinely shocked, but I suppose he saw it as some sort of sign that it must be good. Though if not for the fact that it was another 2 hours to our show starting, I think he would have protested, and I would have found myself at the Nando's down the road. (no slur on Nando's I love it and just had it last night)

The restaurant only has around 25 seats around a bar, not unlike a sushi counter, so doing the maths, 25 seats, 12 ahead of us, we had a bit of waiting. Thankfully, the waiters do a great job of coming around to take your drinks orders and having some wine helps to keep you from staring too psychotically at diners' backs willing them to leave.

Nonetheless, I found the experience of drinking while waiting rather odd in this particular circumstance. I had always thought tapas were meant to be sort of like bar snacks one had with wine before (admittedly a very late) dinner. Except here the wine was clearly playing the supporting role.

Surprisingly the line does move quite quickly, I have a theory it's because you wait so long you're so hungry, you order really quickly, scoff your food down and therefore you're stuffed really quickly and then you have to leave to have a bit of a walk to digest it all. Either that or my staring at those people menacingly worked.

We took our seats right in front of the tortilla making zone. Fascinating. They make these really cute omelettes that look like large babybel cheeses in little brass omelette pans and then pop them out, pat them to check they're just the right squidginess before serving them! You have to see it to believe it.

Anyway, menu's are on the placemats so off we went, ordering the Jamon and Spinach Tortilla, Grilled Chorizo with Watercress, and one of the specials of the day, the featured Langoustines with Salsa - we thought we'd take it slow since we were still waiting for another friend. And yummmmmm... I'm not sure if it's because we had whetted our appetites gawking at other people's food for 30 mins but the langoustines were very fresh and lightly grilled, so that even the slightly uncooked bits tasted lovely. NH loved the chorizo (though I think he loves chorizo anywhere) and the tortilla hit a spot (moist and tasty and of course with the whole presentation it was hard not to love).

Inspired, we then ordered the Grilled Quail with Al-i-Oli, Chips with Brava Sauce and Pimientos de Padron. Think these were less impressive (again maybe because we weren't so hungry by now), though the quail was juicy and tender. The dishes arrived fairly quickly, so that when our friend arrived, we were already finishing...

All in all, a good meal, but far from cheap. Again everything being relative, this place is (from rusty memory) cheaper than its sister restaurant Fino. And you don't have to book, but then of course the downside is the wait. Another thing is that this doesn't seem to me to be authentic tapas (I'm not Spanish so I can't say authoritatively) but instead tapas for foodies - make no mistake, no one there thinks they're just accompaying bar nibbles - made with whatever's fresh and available (and accordingly adjusted prices for affluent Londoners). The people behind the counters are clearly trained professionals, rather than the bar's wife/mother/sister cooking from recipes handed down from generation to generation.

Nonetheless I really did enjoy myself. Food and wine were good and though the bar seating arrangement means that it's it's best a place for dinners for two and the perpetually long queues means it's not really a good place to really drink and graze (this is my own conscience at work - the staff were very sweet, and never once did they suggest we should eat quicker!). Definitely worth a go if you have time.

Food, wine and service for two around £55.__________________________Barrafina54 Frith StreetLondon W1D 4SLT 020 7813 8016__________________________

If anyone has had the (mis)fortune to know me back in the day of ICQ, you'd have known that my ICQ nickname was "mozarella" and I was affectionately known by my ICQ friends as "mozzie" which really I think was their way of telling me that I was sponging on them way too often.

(Clearly I had not had the foresight to avoid giving my friends the opportunity of this declaration when I chose the nickname, which came about as I was chowing through a very delicious slice of pizza as I was creating my ICQ account and the cheese inspired me.)

Moving on some almost ten years

(Sorry, that realization almost knocked me out cold. *composing myself*)

Yes, moving on some almost ten years, and my taste in cheese as in many other things, seems to have changed quite a bit. Back then, I was quite fond of the harder cheeses, probably the result of my immature or romanticised perception of cheese - that cartoon emmental favoured by the likes of Jerry or Mighty Mouse. I still love very thinly sliced emmental in my roast beef sandwich from La Fontaine below my office in Hong Kong, and it's not that hard, but I also loved - cheese connoisseurs look away now! - Babybel and Kraft Singles... :)I think I only ever got as exotic as Gouda and Edam (don't laugh).

They seemed such tasty independent snacks, I could eat them without a cracker in sight! But of course I then got to know the wonderful Bries and Camemberts common at all those wine tastings (an all too common university student activity) and Carr's Table Waters became a standard feature of my larder.

Today I am still no connoisseur, and couldn't tell the provenance of my cheese (beast and country) even if it bleated at me. But having recently moved back to London, I am now able to indulge in tasting such varieties of cheeses from such fabulous fromageries as Neal's Yard, which is of course where this bevy of cheeses in the photo are from, from their Borough Market stall.

Thanks to C and R for snaring these British Beauties ahead of our trip to Provence (I think there's still something vaguely ironic about us bringing cheeses to Provence but I haven't quite put my finger on it). They were brought as a gift (or as penance) to our wonderful hosts, C's parents who had to tolerate us in their lovely home for four days. Looking back, I think we should have brought more.

They were labelled on the packaging and C's dad then cut out the labelling and stuck them on toothpicks (oh so cute) though one of the labels must have been lost which explains the mystery cheese. Anyway, the point of this story (not sure if there was one) was that I realised my love for soft cheeses as I dug into that Wigmore... Having said that, it's nice to have a variety of textures so don't think I'll be a cheese monogamist quite yet.

The other point was to use this opportunity to issue an order to my friends... Go forth and seek ye a good cheese shop, start trying loads of different cheeses before buying loads of cheese, have a cheese (and wine) tasting event every week and most importantly, don't forget to invite me.

PS C, R and J - if you're reading this feel free to put tasting notes on the cheese. Though J, I know you're still dreaming about that cheese at La Prevote so you might not remember these other ones so no worries.

PPS As a vaguely related but very random thought I've always found the idea of men rolling giant wheels of cheese down a hill incredibly funny, has anyone actually witnessed it?